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Great Spherical Church
The Largest Religion The Spherical Church is the direct rival faith system to the Church of the Glowing Bastion. It was founded shortly after Operation New Dawn as a response to the discovery of The Great Martyrs. The Church is the largest in human history, and has a current membership ranging into the 10 billions. The Church practices a polytheistic faith system, focused on The Martyrs and nature. The faith has no set creation story, since the Earth‘s creation is explained through science. The Church enjoys a fair amount of independence and irregulation by the Kodian Empire’s government, due to the nation’s disinterest in religious matters. The government is known to get involved, however, when The Church takes things too far or takes over an area of the world. Major Deities: # Father Time/Fate # Mother Nature # Death # Life # Vengeance # Wisdom # Kreo # REDACTED # REDACTED Minor Deities (Champions): # Deities of Tailoring # Deities of Valor # Deities of Knowledge # Deities of Arrogance # God of Madness # God of Luck # God of Darkness # God of Bronze # Goddess of Astronomy # Deities of Shame Structure: The Great Spherical Church has a branching, specialized, and militant system in its structure. Most jobs are set aside for a specific title. The following is a list of titles, from most important to least: # Great Priest: Highest rank a person can hold. There are only ever 2 at a time. # High Executor: Inquisitors who investigate sins and corruption, as well as determine the rules of The Church. Act as generals or commanders, leading The Church’s military. # Executor: Inquisitors tasked with hunting and killing True Sinners or other enemies of The Church. Executioners, torturers, and expert soldiers charged with protecting the elite members of The Church. # High Justicar: The advanced officials who run Parishes and sections of The Church. # Justicar: Priests who operate under High Justicars; tasked with carrying out most of the less important rituals of a Parish or section of The Church. # Praetorian: Soldiers and guards of The Church. Must be totally devout. # The Raised: People The Great Martyrs have ”spoken” to in some way. Often exhibit powers humans should not have. There are 53 currently. # Clergy: People that have joined The Church, and as such has proven to have “Worth,” by The Great Martyrs’s standards. # Lamb: The title given to unconverted people, or those they believe need to be “silenced.” # True Sinner: Members of the KFSI, KAD, KGB, KBI, IMD, DOPI, WRA, Iron Legion, and anyone else that has ever (past, present, or future) actively fought against or attempted to hinder the progress of The Great Spherical Church. The Church encourages and condones the murder, torture, rape, assassination, and kidnapping of anyone titled True Sinner. Culture: The culture of The Great Spherical Church changes depending on the rank or title of the person in quesiton, but there are a few overarching and general key elements that remain unanimously similar. Principles: Generally speaking, The Great Spherical Church focuses on avoiding and cleansing sin, avoiding the wrath of The Great Martyrs, and to a lesser degree world domination. Individually, people focus on converting outsiders, finding harmony with nature, praising The Great Martyrs (in one or more ways), and avoiding sin. Ethics: The Great Spherical Church defines a good person as a tolerant, sinless, respectful, and obedient one. Evil is defined as recklessness, disrespect, and sin. The Church has deemed a number of things taboo: # Eye Contact: Not to be made with anyone of higher rank or age. Doing so results in disciplinary action by the person eye contact was established with. # Mental Illness: Seen as a punishment by The Great Martyrs for past sins. Results in euthanasia or abortion. # Eating ”Unclean” Animals: Animals not grown on Church property are considered “Unclean,” or tainted and are not to be eaten. Higher ranks of Church officials can supposedly “sense” when a person has consumed such foods, but no studies have been done by Kodian Empire officials. Punishment is usually force-feeding and Confession. Attitudes: The Great Spherical Church holds several attitudes regarding The Great Martyrs and the “world” The Church believes they inhabit: # The Spirit World is full of tricksters and malevolent spirits. # The highest form of art is sculpture, chanting, and sometimes metalworking. # Outsiders are usually mistrusted until their Worth has been proven. Rituals: The Great Spherical Church has a number of varying ways a person can praise, venerate, or honor The Great Martyrs. This includes, prayer, ritual, pilgrimages, and symbols. Prayer: The Great Spherical Church sees prayer in a light unlike most other faiths, mainly in the sense that there are a number of specific conditions that must be met for The Great Martyrs to respond to prayers. # The Great Martyrs are less likely to respond or hear prayers if the person is trained in the military or not higher ranking than a soldier. # The Great Martyrs are less likely to speak or be active in, on, or around holy locations. # The Great Martyrs will usually speak to teachers and The Raised. The Rituals: The Great Spherical Church has a number of rituals they perfom to please and worship The Great Martyrs. They are often secretive, out in the open, and last from midday to the next sunset. Preparation includes self-denial, reciting certain words, and dietary restrictions. Rituals themselves are usually chanting, making certain hand gestures, and sometimes tatooing. The following is a list of known rituals practiced by The Great Spherical Church: # The Beckoning of the Revealed Void: The ritual performed on possible new members, meant to draw forth their Worth through the intervention of The Great Martyrs. Requires the recruits fast beforehand and consume large amounts of Bronze. # The Rite of the Horrific Noise: A ritual of punishment conducted publicly as both humiliation and an example to the rest of the Clergy present. Involves an Executor slicing the victim in all the most painful areas, as well as torture related to things similar. Victims are subjected to large amounts of Baine before the ritual, which keeps them conscious throughout and able to feel the pain. It also opens them up to suggestion, allowing the Executor leading it to replace The Church’s grip on the mind. # Confession: A drawn-out systematic torture of established Clergy where they confess there sins before an Executor and are then punished accordingly. Appliance of the narcotic Bronze as well as Baine are necessary to maintain consciousness, feeling, and honesty throughout the ritual. Symbols The Great Spherical Church‘s symbols include the images depicted on their holy tomes, their main symbol (2 spheres surrounded by an hourglass on a field of purple), and The Great Martyrs themselves. Special Rites: The Great Spherical Church has a number of special rites they do for members of their order, usually revolving around death or the main events of a person’s life.